1
Corinthians 12: 28-30 « And God has placed in the church first of all apostles,
second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of
helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. 29 Are all apostles?
Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30 Do all have gifts
of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? Now eagerly desire the
greater gifts.»
James
3: 16-17 « For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find
disorder and every evil practice. But the wisdom that comes from heaven is
first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy
and good fruit, impartial and sincere.. »
Social media has
played a crucial role in liberalizing information by enabling real-time access
anywhere in the world. Information has become virtually free, available to
everyone... and can be used to manipulate people. So, while some people use
social media to inform themselves and others, help others, etc., others use it
to mislead as many people as possible by distorting the reality. This category
of users, which is very large, creates a life on social media that is sometimes
extremely different from their real life to be admired and/or envied by those
who do not know how to differentiate between what is real and what is not.
Indeed, seeing all the happy pictures of others on social media can make them
feel like they're not as good as them. They might start thinking: how is he, at
this age, already able to accomplish all this, while I am still at this stage?
Why does she seem so happy in her relationship, while I am the same age as her
but still single? Why does this non-believer, who does not even pray, have the
things I pray and fast for? How can they travel every month, while I only
travel once a year? etc.
All these
questions create a spirit of rivalry and jealousy within us. We become bitter,
easily irritable, depressed... In short, we start to feel all the bad feelings
that take root in our hearts the moment we begin to dislike ourselves and feel
ashamed of our lives because of someone else's success. The Bible is clear on this point: we must
protect our hearts, at all costs, from anything that arouses these bad
feelings.
Proverbs 4 : 23 « Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. »
Here's how to keep these feelings away from your heart on social media.
1. Differenciating between what's real and what's not
While it may seem like everyone is happy on social media, the suicide rate has increased from 10.4 per 100,000 people in 2000 to 14.1 per 100,000 people in the United States. This information comes from data produced by the CDC (ref: Suicide Data and Statistics | Suicide Prevention | CDC).
In Canada, the number of people with mental health issues has increased by three times after the pandemic (ref: Mental Health Statistics in Canada for 2025 | Made in CA). It is therefore important to take all information published on social media with a grain of salt. Always remember that not everything you see on social media is real, especially since artificial intelligence is becoming more advanced. Also, people don't share every second of their lives on social media. But everyone wants to be seen in a good light by everyone else.
Luke
11: 39 « Then the Lord said to him, “Now then, you Pharisees clean the
outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness.»
Luke
11: 43 « Woe to you Pharisees, because you love the most important seats
in the synagogues and respectful greetings in the marketplaces. »
2.
Love yourself
Psalms 139 : 14 « I praise you because I am
fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full
well.»
If you don't love yourself, you can't love anyone else. The Bible tells
us to love our neighbours as we love ourselves. Mark
12:31. We must remember that everyone is made in God's image.
This means that we should see ourselves in our neighbours and our neighbours in
ourselves. With this in mind, it becomes easy to love ourselves and love others
the same way. Thus, we cannot see others as superior to ourselves or see
ourselves as superior to others. We cannot be jealous of others' success, but
we rejoice with them as if it were a shared success. We cannot rejoice in the
misfortune of others because our hearts would weep if we were in their place. Their pain, therefore,
becomes our pain. Romans 12:15-16
3. Maintain an attitude of gratitude toward God
Lamentations 3:22-23 « Because of the Lord’s great
love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every
morning.
Great is Your faithfulness.»
We are often inclined to compare ourselves to others because we are in a
state of constant dissatisfaction. We think our lives would be better if we had
millions or billions of dollars, for example. That is probably true. Honestly,
who doesn't want to have that much money? But how many rich and famous people
commit suicide or fall into addiction to escape depression and loneliness? This
state of dissatisfaction prevents us from seeing and rejoicing in God's
goodness, which is manifested and renewed every day in our lives.
If you're not grateful for your own life, you won't be able to celebrate other people's lives.... Instead, you will envy them, or their failure will
make you feel better about yourself. Both cases are bad.
